Why will my LO only STTN sometimes???

[Eltjuh]

My lil man 'STTN' every now and then - sleeping 7hrs, then another 3 and then another 2 and I love it....but I can't seem to figure out why he doesn't always do it....or why he does do it when he does (what makes him sleep so well)...

Last week he slept well on wednesday night and also saturday night...and I just remembered he did it the saturday before that aswell....it seems like he has 2 bad nights and then have 1 good one....Which would mean I'mdue a good one tonight

Anyway...I've written down things I seemed to have done different during the day (before the good nights) but I still can't figure it out.....

Does anyone have any tips to get him to do it more often??? I tried feeding him more often during the day, didn't help...trying to get him to nap more during the day didn't help...me not drinking caffeine didn't help...bathing him definitely doesn't help...I could really do with him sleeping well now, cause hubby is away so I have to do it all alone and LO is being such a miserable boy most of the days...

 

[captainj1]

Oh hun, I wouldn't try to analyse too much. Do you sleep well every night, and to the same schedule? I know i don't!

Babies are just like adults, although they also have to deal with having tiny stomachs, learning to digest new things, teething, growth spurts, etc etc.

I would try to relax a little (hard I know when you are exhausted and have a 'high need' baby (mine is too!)) and just focus on how things are improving in the longer term. I'm sure 1 good night in 3 is much better than how things were a month ago, and that in general things will be better again a month from now. As long as you are moving forward over time, just accept that there will be day to day inconsistency. I found that when we started weaning at 17 weeks (recommended due to reflux and intolerances) he started sttn much more consistently (until his teeth came! But he's back on track now).

 

[aliss]

Because he's only 3 months, there are a variety of things that can cause him to sleep less and most of it you really can't control His little brain and little body are just rapidly growing so fast.

Mine slept 8pm-6am last night for the first time ever. The night before, awake at 10:30pm-12am, scream at 4am, and up at 6am. The night before, up at 1,2,5am. It's so unpredictable. Teething, sore gums, hot, cold, diapers, mental changes, sleep pattern changes.

I know it's hard when you are so tired and sleep deprived but I think setting the standard as low as possible always means you will at least be pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed

 

[Louppey]

I agree with Aliss, I kept going to bed hoping that LO would STTN, now I just go to bed at 10pm hoping that she won't wake up til atleast 1am so I get a few hours in

I don't feel like a failure anymore, which I did before as all I seemed to hear about was babies that STTN!

 

[ginny]

^^ wss... I never go to bed now hoping for a full night and to be honest I feel much better as I don't feel so rubbish the next day if he hasn't! Xx

 

[Seity]

I agree with the others. Be glad you get any good nights. My LO woke every 2 hours for the entire first year of his life.
It's rough, but we all survive somehow.
Hang in there because it sounds like your LO will sleep better sooner than mine ever did.

 

[Eltjuh]

Oh hun, I wouldn't try to analyse too much. Do you sleep well every night, and to the same schedule? I know i don't!

Babies are just like adults, although they also have to deal with having tiny stomachs, learning to digest new things, teething, growth spurts, etc etc.

I would try to relax a little (hard I know when you are exhausted and have a 'high need' baby (mine is too!)) and just focus on how things are improving in the longer term. I'm sure 1 good night in 3 is much better than how things were a month ago, and that in general things will be better again a month from now. As long as you are moving forward over time, just accept that there will be day to day inconsistency. I found that when we started weaning at 17 weeks (recommended due to reflux and intolerances) he started sttn much more consistently (until his teeth came! But he's back on track now).

well that's the thing a month ago he slept better than this, only waking twice and now he wakes at least 4 times :s And I'mnot weaning till 6 months, as I'm still EBF oh and he's teething aswell....

 

[aliss]

Oh hun, I wouldn't try to analyse too much. Do you sleep well every night, and to the same schedule? I know i don't!

Babies are just like adults, although they also have to deal with having tiny stomachs, learning to digest new things, teething, growth spurts, etc etc.

I would try to relax a little (hard I know when you are exhausted and have a 'high need' baby (mine is too!)) and just focus on how things are improving in the longer term. I'm sure 1 good night in 3 is much better than how things were a month ago, and that in general things will be better again a month from now. As long as you are moving forward over time, just accept that there will be day to day inconsistency. I found that when we started weaning at 17 weeks (recommended due to reflux and intolerances) he started sttn much more consistently (until his teeth came! But he's back on track now).

well that's the thing a month ago he slept better than this, only waking twice and now he wakes at least 4 times :s And I'mnot weaning till 6 months, as I'm still EBF oh and he's teething aswell....

While it may not make sense at first that he slept better before, biologically it does, because around 3-4 months and 6 months, there are major growth spurts/mental changes/sleep pattern changes which will disturb his sleep. You can't view it from a mindset that sleep patterns are anything like adults, it's totally different. The good news is that it will change, eventually, andyou just need to wait it out, as tiring as it is

 

[cat81]

My LO is the same and he's 10 months. He often sleeps through the night (about 7pm - 6am) but other nights he will wake once or twice and demand a feed. I can't find any pattern to it either.

 

[oliviarose]

I have the same problem. Harrison is 7.5 months and has only properly slept through the night once (7.30-6.00). I just go to bed early every night, so at least i get a little bit of sleep.

His sleep got brilliant at one point, going down at 7.30 and waking anywhere between 3-5am. Then it got the worst it had ever been, he was up at least 4 times a night. I didn't know what to do. Now I have just accepted that we are nit going to get a regular pattern at night. Still frustrates me, but only because I am tired.

 

[lauren28]

Leah is 1 in 2 days and her sleep changes constantly. Until about 7 months she would wake like clockwork every four hours for a feed. Then we got the occasional night where they would sleep 7.30-4. Now for the last week she has been waking at least 4 times a night and puttingup a good fight before going back to sleep again. I don't think there is a pattern tp it. I am looking forward to when she is a teenager and it will be hard to wake her up!

 

[pupsicle]

My daughters the same, sometimes she sleeps from 7.30pm - 9.00am. But most days she wakes in the night (3.00am, 5.00am, 6.30am) I just pop her dummy back in and she goes straight back to sleep,I'm the one that struggles getting back to sleep

 

[Bec L]

I have the same thing going on with Florrie. In the last month she has STTN twice (not consecutively) - and yet every other night is up for a feed either two or three times. I am guilty of overanalysing too, and think about what she ate in the day, how many feeds she had, when she slept, in the hope that if we do the same another night she might STTN again!!

I don't mind getting up for the night feeds but do worry that she is only waking out of habit, and because she has fallen alseep on the boob so is waking more for comfort. Oh well, other daughter still doesn't always STTN and she's nearly 3 so we should be used to it!!!